NEW YORK, NY - Although the field of urology remains largely male dominated, the proportion of female physicians specializing in urology has increased from less than 0.5 percent in 1981 to 10 percent today, and 33 percent of students entering urology internships and residency programs are now female. Researchers report in The Journal of Urology® that gender inequality between male and female urologists persists with women currently earning approximately $76,000 less than men annually.

"Income disparities between men and women in the medical field are well established and have been reported in the specialty of urology, despite a recent increase in the proportion of female urologists," explained lead investigator Angela B. Smith, MD, MS, of the Department of Urology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine. "However, to our knowledge, no previous studies have attempted to delineate the causes of gender inequality by concurrently examining important training and practice characteristics known to impact compensation."

As the result of the increase in the proportion of female urologists, there is more interest in the impact of gender on job satisfaction, work hours and compensation. In collaboration with the American Urological Association, investigators sent more than 6,500 surveys to practicing urologists in the U.S. to gather data on demographics, gender, and years in practice. Additional practice-based questions included provider compensation, workload, training, practice focus and practice characteristics. A total of 733 complete responses (660 or 90 percent male, 73 or 10 percent female) were collected for a total response rate of 13 percent. Their analysis characterizes the female workforce in urology compared to that of men with regard to income, workload and job satisfaction.

After controlling for work hours, call frequency, age, practice setting and type, fellowship training, and advanced practice provider employment, adjusted annual salaries among female urologists were approximately $76,000 less than their male counterparts.

However, the study also demonstrated that while income can play an important role in overall job satisfaction, it is not the whole story. Female urologists surveyed consistently expressed high levels of job satisfaction despite two-thirds reporting gender discrimination and half having been discouraged from pursuing urology.

The results highlighted other gender differences. On average, female urologists vs. male urologists were younger (42 vs. 50 years), more likely to be fellowship trained (56 percent vs. 38 percent), and working in an academic setting (29 percent vs. 20 percent). They were less likely to be self-employed (33 percent vs. 51 percent) and reported working fewer hours per week (55 vs. 60).

"Gender was one of the strongest predictors of compensation in our multivariable model, suggesting that variations in practice setting and training do not explain the documented income inequalities between men and women in urology. In contrast, we did not find any significant gender differences in job satisfaction. Despite these known inequalities in compensation, an increasing number of women are entering the field of urology," commented Dr. Smith.

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Notes For Editors

"Gender differences in compensation, job satisfaction, and other practice patterns in urology," by E. Sophie Spencer, Allison M. Deal, Nicholas R. Pruthi, Chris M. Gonzalez, E. Will Kirby, Joshua Langston, Patrick H. McKenna, Maxim J. McKibben, Matthew E. Nielsen, Mathew C. Raynor, Eric M. Wallen, Michael E. Woods, Raj S. Pruthi, and Angela B. Smith,DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2015.08.100. Published online in advance of The Journal of Urology^®, Volume 195, Issue 2 (February 2016) by Elsevier.

Full text of this article is available to credentialed journalists upon request, contact Linda Gruner at 212-633-3923 or jumedia@elsevier.comto obtain copies. Journalists wishing to interview the authors should contact Tom Hughes, Media Relations, UNC Health Care Communications, at 984-974-1151, 919-923-6964 (mobile), or tom.hughes@unchealth.unc.edu.

About The Journal of Urology®

Established in 1917, The Journal of Urology^® (www.jurology.com) is the official journal of the American Urological Association (www.auanet.org). It is the most widely read and highly cited journal in the field. It brings to its readership all the clinically relevant information needed to stay at the forefront of this dynamic field. This top-ranking journal presents investigative studies on critical areas of research and practice, survey articles providing short condensations of the best and most important urology literature worldwide and practice-oriented reports on interesting clinical observations.

About the American Urological Association

Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association (www.auanet.org) is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 22,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

About Elsevier

Elsevier (www.elsevier.com) is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus (www.scopus.com), Elsevier Research Intelligence (www.elsevier.com/research-intelligence), and ClinicalKey (www.clinicalkey.com) - and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet (www.thelancet.com) and Cell (www.cell.com), and more than 33,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group plc (www.relxgroup.com), a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries. www.elsevier.com

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Linda Gruner
Jumedia@elsevier.com
Jumedia@elsevier.com